I know you were being serious, you fluffy cat person, you, but what is there to add ? It's part of his personnality, he's also quite incapable of writing serious efficient wizards, so well, stick to what you're best at, as they say... I must say that I hadn't noticed really, some of the females are quite ridiculous, though, like Christine in maskerade, or the teen witches in the Tiffany series, or in a couple of the witch books, can't remember which ones. Ok, they're not necessarily the main characters of the book, but still, they're there...

The cat is cute. The 'u' is not. Keep the cat, but please not the 'u'.

Pedantism taken too far?

(I think I'm going to put this explanation in a text file for future use - I seem to be typing it so often!)

This is not pedantism - because we have so many members of the board for whom English is not their first language (or even second etc.) we want to maintain a reasonable standard of English for their benefit - this is why we do not want l33t-speak or other internet abbreviations - and phonetic abbreviations can be very confusing.

english isn't my second or even tenth language but I think that by watching TV and reading books in english there really should be no problem about such things...although I must admit it bothers me too, the l33t talk it's kinda disturbing

p.s.
monstrous regiment was the worst DW book in my opinion simply because of this joke taken too far...just to get back on the topic

Sure, using "u" isn't that confusing, but the boundary has to be set somewhere, this was a friendly piece of advice, no-one has yet been shot for a "u"... (well, actually about 20 "u" prisoners get shot every day, but Garner hushes it up...)

If you dont tell someone for a small thing like that, they may think it's ok and go on to whole posts full of "OMG WTF u R such a g33k !"... Admittedly everyone wouldn't necessarily go that far, but it's worth telling people just in case. And also, as a community that focuses on written works, good writing is appreciated, although of course genuine mistakes due to dyslexia or english-as-an-Nth-language are fine...

The cat is cute. The 'u' is not. Keep the cat, but please not the 'u'.

Pedantism taken too far?

Should that not be pedantry?

This actually made me laugh out loud as I read it in class (not good since I'm supposed to be researching buddhism!) which shows that I'm the sort of person who loved Lynn Truss' book "Eats, Shoots, And Leaves". Sad really.

I used to play an online game where everyone used to type, not leet, but leaving out letters for the sake of speed, I sometimes slip back into it. Considering it was the first time I had done it on this forum I do still think I need not have been pulled up on it.
I think pointing the 'u' out was 'anal' rather than an example of pedantrismnuss :shock:

If I had posted more than just one 'u' once I would understand it, as it is it seems petty. A quick look at my other posts would show I am not someone that uses leet, if the positions were reversed I would have let the 'u' go. Anyway I will not mention it again

The cat is cute. The 'u' is not. Keep the cat, but please not the 'u'.

Pedantism taken too far?

Should that not be pedantry?

Pedantry is the modern form, but pedantism is an older form - dictionary.com lists it as "Obsolete" - but that doesn't make it wrong - you don't have to throw something away just because you've got a newer version - which explains why I have got at least ten computers sitting around my home - most of them now unusable - and it being a quiet holiday weekend Sunday afternoon, I'm starting to ramble!

If I had posted more than just one 'u' once I would understand it, as it is it seems petty. A quick look at my other posts would show I am not someone that uses leet, if the positions were reversed I would have let the 'u' go. Anyway I will not mention it again

From experience, most folks who use shorthand or netspeak need to be made aware of it. Granted, it was only once, but at the same time it's best if the first time also becomes the last, wouldn't you say? I just made certain of that.

Oh it was so tedious really, wasn't it, and obvious from the outset. The whole thing reeked of "That's right, sisters doing it for themselves! Didn't expect that now did you! I rather expect your tiny minds have just been blown!"

Equality is a major new focus on Discworld isn‘t it. Well, if you choose to ignore Angua... and Cheery and the whole dwarven sexuality storyline... and pretty much all the witches... and Susan... and Mrs Palm knowing more than she lets on... and every main character of the female persuasion on the Discworld.

What was it really adding when it comes down to it? It would probably have been a far greater statement if Jackrum had been male, as this would have suggested that a man was not only aware of the situation, but respected the strength of a woman, therefore really addressing the concept of equality.

Oh it was so tedious really, wasn't it, and obvious from the outset. The whole thing reeked of "That's right, sisters doing it for themselves! Didn't expect that now did you! I rather expect your tiny minds have just been blown!"

Equality is a major new focus on Discworld isn‘t it. Well, if you choose to ignore Angua... and Cheery and the whole dwarven sexuality storyline... and pretty much all the witches... and Susan... and Mrs Palm knowing more than she lets on... and every main character of the female persuasion on the Discworld.

What was it really adding when it comes down to it? It would probably have been a far greater statement if Jackrum had been male, as this would have suggested that a man was not only aware of the situation, but respected the strength of a woman, therefore really addressing the concept of equality.

It was entertaining, but highly flawed.

I couldn't agree more.
I kept waiting for the REAL surprise.. but it didn't come.
how disappointing.

Oh, I don't know... I keep defending the novel. The idea as such is so old, and the story has been told as well as lived so often (I always wanted to make a thread of some historical cases) that you can't retell it, just exaggerate it, which is actually the most Discworldish element of the novel except for the guest starring Watch members...

For a start, Jackrum had to be female - how else could the recurring line "I am not a man who...." ever work? but also, the whole title gave the game away for anyone not totally illiterate - also given the capabilities of female vampires with relation to their clothes (as revealed in at least one later book) if they had do a a body transformation, Maledicta might have had problems if she had had to transform!

Maladicta perhaps, but Jackrum - Jackrum had to be female, I have to agree with Pixel there.
I still think it never was meant to be the main focus of the book, and not expected to take any reader of the book, that in the end every character was female except for the most "effeminate" in the regiment, of course. It was not only a bit obvious from the start, the story of just one girl dressed up as a male soldier had also been told so often, and also happened quite a few times, it couldn't have been retold just like that... (Also, every topic on Discworld degenerates like that. Look at the million to one chance, and all the other things. They couldn't stop with just one woman in the regiment.)